U.S. Can Now Sell Beef And Natural Gas To China

A new trade deal struck last week opens the door for American beef, liquefied natural gas, and some financial services to enter China. In return, the U.S. will allow imports of Chinese cooked poultry.

Dr. Luis Ribera, associate professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University says this could have significant implications for Texas beef producers.

The last time the U.S. exported beef to China was in 2002, prior to an outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, also known as Mad Cow Disease. At that time, the U.S. produced 70 percent of China’s imported frozen beef. And 35 percent of that came from Texas. As the market opens back up, the American beef-raisers will have to compete with the producers that took their place, including Brazil. But the potential economic impacts are still significant.

“If we get only half of what we used to have, 35 percent of that market, $455 million just for Texas alone, that will be about $66 million or 15,000 metric tons of frozen beef that we would send to China,” Ribera says. “I’m sure our producers in Texas and the U.S. are very excited about this news.”